What the city puts in the water
The City of Joliet disinfects with sodium hypochlorite, which combines with ammonia in the system to form chloramine. The 2024 water quality report lists a chloramine residual of 1 to 2 ppm at the tap. That residual is the point: it keeps bacteria out of miles of water main. It is also what dries your skin after a shower, what you taste in a glass from the kitchen sink, and what the EPA says has to be removed before water goes into an aquarium or a dialysis machine.
Why chloramine needs the right carbon
Plain chlorine comes out on ordinary activated carbon. Chloramine is more stable, which is why utilities like it and why a bargain carbon cartridge does very little against it. For chloramine the media should be catalytic carbon, the type made for breaking it down, in a tank sized for whole-home flow so showers do not lose pressure. Your written quote names the media and tank size before you book.
We install it at the main line after the meter and after the softener, so every tap, shower, the washing machine and the ice maker all get filtered water. Outdoor spigots can be left on untreated water for the lawn.
What changes in the house
- Showers stop smelling like a pool. Skin and hair are not stripped by disinfectant every morning.
- Kitchen water loses the chemical edge in coffee, ice and anything you cook in water.
- The reverse osmosis unit under the sink lasts longer, because chloramine attacks RO membranes and the carbon tank takes it out first.
- Rubber seals and fixtures see less of the disinfectant that ages them.
What carbon does not do
Carbon does not remove the calcium and magnesium that make Joliet water very hard, and it does not remove radium. That is why we never sell a filter as a fix for everything. The salt-based softener handles hardness at the main line, and the under-sink reverse osmosis handles radium and dissolved solids in the water you drink. All three installed for $2,999. See what the price includes.
Carbon on private wells
Well water has no disinfectant in it, so the carbon tank plays a different role: taste, odor and organics. If your well smells like rotten eggs that is hydrogen sulfide, and heavy iron or sulfur need their own treatment ahead of the bundle. We quote that after seeing a test. More on well water treatment.
Sources: City of Joliet 2024 Water Quality Report (disinfectant and chloramine residual), EPA guidance on chloramine for aquariums and dialysis, City of Joliet Public Utilities FAQ (hardness).